Injured
by Penny Talisman
Summary: The Opera Ghost has not been heard from for a while. Is it possible he is injured? Might turn into a Romance story.
1. Chapter 1

Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, or Le Fantôme as many called him, had not been heard from for several days. He had left no notes for anyone, neither had he shown up for Christine's nightly lessons. Even though there was a show on last night, Box 5 had remained empty. These were the reasons why Meg found herself walking through the mirror in Prima Donna's dressing room, carrying a medium sized picnic basket full of food long lasting food products for him. Stopping to check the wicker flaps were fastened down to ensure the contents would remain inside the basket.

Meg tried her best not the scream or shriek as rats danced around her feet. The dust coated every surface very thickly, causing numerous sneezing fits as she walked through the tunnels. After many attempts to find his 'home', Meg sat down heavily at the edge of underground lake, placing her basket on her knees, feeling very lost and wishing she had stayed upstairs. She thought about how panicked her maman was that morning about his welfare, which had in fact prompted her to come down here to find him. Her words echoed in her head.

'Marguerite, Darling, I do apologise for ranting like this at you but I cannot help but worry about him. He lives in a heavily trapped maze, if he is injured it is unlikely he'll be able to find a safe way out, not to mention die of disease or starvation, and don't get me started on how he decided to set up his home so he would have to go through a lake.'

"Lake!" Meg found herself shouting loudly, startling the resident rats "I have to cross the lake to find his home"

Meg stood up quickly, scanning for a boat of some kind, sighing when she saw none. She carefully stepped into the murky green water, praying nothing vicious lived in it. Meg found she was forced to lift the basket to sit on her shoulder to keep its contents dry. Her dress clung to her, wrapping itself around her legs making it even harder to walk through the water. The effort to get through the water was exhausting and Meg found she quickly began to sweat. After what felt like hours Meg saw a large iron gate. She remembered what her mother had told her when she was younger 'If you ever meet the Opera Ghost raise your hands to the level of your eyes. That way you will show him you respect him and have no weapons'. Meg raised her free hand to her eye level while she looked for his figure.

"Monsieur?" Meg called out in hope he would hear, she saw a lever out the corner of her eye "Monsieur? Are you there? … My name is Marguerite Giry … I brought you some food … Is it all right if I come in?"

Meg got no reply but pulled the lever anyway and the gate opened, allowing her passage to the other side. The water splashed loudly as she walked past his boat and onto the slightly dryer rocks. Carefully Meg removed the basket from her shoulder before calling out again.

"Monsieur?" Meg walked up the makeshift stairs "I apologise for the intrusion..." Her speech faded when she saw him trying to drag himself out of the bed, his leg was horrifically bruised and swollen, possibly broken, his body was significantly smaller in girth even after only a few days.

"What are you doing here?" Erik shouted at her, almost growling, obviously expecting an answer.

Meg jumped slightly at the harshness of his tone "Monsieur, I can only apologise for intruding into your living area but my maman was worried about your prolonged absence and she told me how dangerous it would be for someone injured to be down here without any help."

"So you decided to come down and check on me" He sneered, but there wasn't as much of an edge to his voice now "Imagine how she feels now that her daughter is missing"

Meg sighed, she did not expect a friendly welcome but she did not expect this either; looking down she replied as best as she could, "I know how upset maman will be with me for disappearing again." She paused looking up at his form, noticing he had managed to sit on the edge of his bed, his right side turned from her view and his body tense "- But I feel she will understand my reasons for doing this."

Erik sighed "You said your name was Marguerite Giry"

"Yes, my maman says you know her, so I thought my last name would help"

"Help? How?" He asked cynically.

"Monsieur, my maman says she helped you when you were younger and I thought that you may trust me enough to let me in if you knew I was her daughter."

"I was hoping you would leave, if I ignored you. It turns out you are too much like your maman."

Meg placed the basket on the floor and spotted his white mask resting on the floor in three jagged pieces, she bent down to pick them up, they were made of a material she could sew. She walked over to a small end table and placed the pieces on top.

"I can fix something for you to eat before I leave if you wish?"

He laughed. "Do think you could even find your way back?"

Meg sighed "It's unlikely but not impossible. After all I did find my way here … Do you want some soup? I brought vegetables and bread. I also brought some fresh water although I did have a small sip when I was walking through the lake."

"What time did you leave upstairs in your quest to find me?"

"Not relevant. Do you want food?"

Erik left out a sharp huff of breath deciding to answer her before she asked again. "Yes, I do I haven't eaten in a while. Now tell me what time you left."

"It took me three hours to get here." Meg scowled at his chuckle. "Do you have a kitchen?"

"You think I could carry a stove down here?"

Meg frowned at him "How do you cook?"

Erik could have laughed at her expression before pointing to the far corner of his bedroom. "Fire Pit."

"Ah …" Meg was in trouble, she couldn't start a fire from scratch.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, I would like to mention before this chapter that, I have moved this story onto this account, I have recieved an email from a rather frustrating member on FF claiming I had 'stolen' this from another person. I have not. I am both xPennyxTallyx and xTallyxPennyx.**

**One other thing is before I moved this a reviewer brought to my notice that Meg should be more concerned about the lunatic living under the Opera House. So I've decided to make Meg have a little crush on him so she isn't so concerned about the lunatic underneath her bedroom. Beware I don't use Beta Readers, as I have been ripped off by one before, and I wrote this on a computer that oddly doesn't have spell check on, so all errors are mine alone.**

**I also forgot to mention in Chapter One : I don't own Phantom of the Opera.**

**Slight Edit on Feb 13th 2012**

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><p>Meg sat on the cold stone floor of les Fantômes 'bedroom', torn between watching him eat the soup she made, just to make sure he ate it, and admiring the large phoenix bed he lay in. He appeared to being enjoying the soup, regardless of the fact he made her cook it at an odd angle. She assumed this was due to the fact he didn't know her and he felt he had to ensure she wouldn't poison him.<p>

She had found that he had several masks, many of them black, only a few of them were white. She had been surprised to find a spare white half mask but nonetheless she would fix his other one for him. She had given that one to him before she had cooked his meal, she was of course curious to see why he felt he had to hide his face from her view, but it was obviously something he didn't want her to see. She had decided very quickly that if he did not want her to see she would not look.

Somehow, she knew she had to check his leg. Being a dancer Meg knew how to check for broken bones, all the dancers were required to know here at the Opera Populaire. His reaction to being 'manhandled', as he would likely put it, wasn't going to be pretty. She found herself hoping at worst the bone was only badly bruised, the thought of the Opera Ghost in a cast was horrifying. That was probably because she would end up having to feed the man, among other things. Her head ached at the thought of just trying to wrap his leg. Meg shifted her gaze back to his injured leg, she let out a small sigh and her stomach started doing flips.

Meg decided she should bring up the topic of his injury before she lost her nerve completely "How did you do that to your leg?"

Meg looked up at him praying for this conversation to be simple. He glared, Meg let out a small huff realizing that was going to be his only answer to that question. She stood up, noticing he was watching her as if he expecting her to attack, and walked quietly to the wicker basket she had put next to the entrance to this room, she remained silent as she crouched down and opened the lid, knowing his eyes remained on her. Meg pulled out the clean linens she had put in as a last minute decision, keeping them in front of her out of his view. Meg rose slowly into a standing position and turned around, the linens clutched tightly in her hands rested just below her chest. She noticed his eyes immediately went to the linens, glaring at them as if they would catch fire at his will.

"Monsieur, I would like to check your leg. You may not like me very much, but someone should check your injury" Meg realized he was glaring at her again she found herself sighing and added "Beside yourself. Your injury is not in an easy place for you to examine properly by yourself"

His glare, somehow, managed to become stronger as he pulled the red blanket over his legs. Meg walked over to him anyway, and took the empty bowl from him and placed it on the floor.

Meg sighed, he was acting like a two year old "Let me see"

He didn't move, he just tensed as if preparing to strike her if she dared touch him. Meg dropped the linens on his feet before moving his empty bowl out of her way before kneeling beside his lowers legs. She folded her hands in her lap, and stared at him.

"Let me see, it won't take me long"

His glare turned into a scowl "Fine. If it will shut you up."

Meg sighed in relief as he pulled the blanket back so she had a good view of his leg. Meg was shocked at the state of his leg, large black and purple bruises cover his skin, leaving hardly any of his leg its natural colouring. Her hands lightly skimmed the top of his leg checking for small bumps, after finding none she looked up at him

"Does any part of your leg hurt more than the rest of it?"

"Not particularly"

Meg frowned, she thought Christine was confusing but he was on another level "Was that a yes or a no?"

"Around the middle of it" He sighed shifting slightly not at all appreicating the attention he was getting.

Meg nodded moving her hand to hover her fingers over the darkest of the bruises "Here?"

"Yes"

Meg sighed, removing her hand, and moved to sit on the edge of his bed, much to his _joy_, so she could look at his leg from a higher view. She almost immediately noticed that his leg was on a slight angle from were her hand had rested. She knew anyone without her First Aid training would have ignored it.

"It looks broken"

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading this. You have no idea how hard I found this to write which is why its taken me a while to get it up. I should also mention I don't have any First Aid training and I could only tell someone that they have broken their leg is if it was on a 90 degree angle, so don't use anything Meg did in this chapter to check someone for a broken leg.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Edit: 13th Feb 2012**

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><p>Meg sat at the edge of the glittering lake, fighting the overwhelming urge to leave this ghastly place. It was so dark and cold down here in the huge catacombs. Her dress was too thin for a place like this, she seemed to shiver non-stop, regardless of the thick petticoat she had on. The fact that her dress, from just below her breasts, was still soaked despite working so close to a fire, did not help soothe her chill in the slightest.<p>

Meg wished she could run to her maman, and have her come down here instead to care for the infuriating man. As she worried if she did stay, he'd trap her here once his leg healed. He did not seem to trust her in the slightest, regardless of her help. Not to mention the Opera Ghost was well known for his possessiveness of anything he saw as his, so she felt she couldn't touch anything. Then there was the explosive temper he had, one that erupted when he was disobeyed, or when she wrapped his leg earlier.

A few stray tears slid down her cheeks, Meg quickly wiped them away. She was helping him why did he have to insult her so much? She knew he was in pain but why was he verbally lashing out at her? After all she wasn't to blame for the injury he had received. She sighed one of the many insults, but the most hurtful, flashed through her mind.

_'Une pute stupide'_

Meg knew she was neither of the two words that floated through her mind were true but that did not make them hurt any less. She had not shown this weakness when she was wrapping his leg, Meg wondered why she was showing it now. She pushed herself to her feet, scowling at how dirty the back of her dress had become on the rocks. Suddenly, movement on the candlestick beside her caught her, Meg turned her head to get a proper look at the source of the movement. A small shriek left her lips, as Meg darted away up to where Erik was, it was a rather large black spider.

"Problem?" The Fantôme's un-amused voice seemed to echo around her.

Meg whirled around and replied with as much dignity as she could "Spider"

Meg did not miss his barely concealed snort of amusement and scowled at him "I had a choice between sitting with the spider and you. Since the spider was more frightening, I came in here"

"I am certainly more terrifying then a spider. Have you not heard of my crimes?"

"Yes, I have actually. But that spider is not bedridden" Meg smiled sweetly at him as he glared at her. Meg silently wondered if that was the only facial expression he knew how to give. She sat down in the middle of his 'bedroom' with her back to him, her body still shaking with the cold. She heard an exaggerated sigh behind her but she did not turn to face him.

"There spare clothes in the trunk"

_'What trunk?'_ Meg sighed she was very cold and this could be his apology.

"Did you hear me? Go to the trunk and get some spare clothes" He scowled at her before adding "You'll catch your death if you continue to wear wet clothes and I don't particularly want to have to get rid of your body when you do."

Meg pressed her lips together slightly in irritation before standing up and looking at him "Where?"

Meg resisted the urge to roll her eyes when he waved his hand in the general direction of the trunk. Meg walked over to the large black trunk, undoing the catch she sighed "When was the last time you changed?"

"Why?" His voice telling her he was suspicious of her actions.

Groaning Meg replied "You can't sit in dirty clothes, you'll start to feel uncomfortable then blame me and you'll smell eventually."

"About a week ago"

Meg sighed internally and grabbed him some clean clothing before getting herself one of the dresses he had in there "Why the dresses?"

"You would not believe me"

Meg sighed dropping the clean clothes for him on the bed "I am changing out there." Meg said walking away, grimacing she added "Just shout if you need help"

She walked throught the door and changed in record time and sat in the makeshift stairs, praying he wouln't need help at all.

"Meg?" His shout wasn't happy, in fact it sound as if he was grinding his teeth together. _Oh no ..._

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><p><strong>Hey people, did you enjoy this? Seriously. You'll have to let me know I've never wrote anything like this before I'm doing this blind.<strong>

**Translation**

**fantôme - **Phantom

**Une pute stupide - **Stupid Whore


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything**

**I've realised I haven't made Meg or Erik sound like they are from France at all so I'm starting now by using the odd French word when they speak. All French here is from a translator, so any words used in the wrong context let me know so I can correct them. Since I don't know any words in French beside 'Oui' and 'Non'. I am asking if any of you can PM me the name of a **_reliable_** Beta who can help. (Trust me when I say it's a painful thing to ask)**

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><p>"Meg?" His shout wasn't happy, in fact it sound as if he was grinding his teeth together. <em>Oh no ... <em>Meg's heart stopped, _he needs help. Mon aide. _Meg stood frozen for a few seconds she really didn't want to help him dress. Especially when she was wearing this, it was too tight and far too low cut for her to feel comfortable. Meg sighed walking up the stairs slowly, as if she was walking to her death, _my maman will kill me if she finds out I'm helping a man dress._ As she walked in Meg smiled, trying to appear cheerful as she walked around his bed.

"Something funny?" Erik seemed to snarl at her

_Merde, smiling was a bad idea._

"Of course not" Meg noticed he had changed his shirt and was struggling to say in a sitting position "Do you need help standing up?" _Please let it be that_.

"Oui"

Meg felt relief wash over her, she wouldn't have to dress him after all. Meg walked over to him, a small uneasy smile escaped her as his large hand grasped her shoulder.

A laugh escaped him though it sounded bitter to her ears "Change your mind about helping me yet, little Giry?"

"Non Monsieur. You can not help needing some assistance" Meg sighed wondered if she could hold his weight, even so she gingerly helped him move his injured leg off of the bed.

Meg waited while he managed to manoeuvre the dark fabric of his trousers down his legs. Meg took them from him and put them by the door, Meg walked slowly back towards him _I hope I don't fall. _When Meg reached him she crouched slightly, taking one of his hands and moved it so his arm rested across her shoulders. Meg noticed his other hand was on the waistband of his trousers.

"Ready?" She asked him, looking at the whiteness of his mask.

He nodded slightly in return. When Meg felt his weight start to shift she slowly stood up, hoping she was helping him at the same time. Meg found that he was most definitively heavier then she thought he would be, the weight normally on his injured leg was on her. Though his weight was not as large as it should have been Meg, felt as if her knees would give way. Meg felt his fingers tap on her shoulder, she turned her head to look at him, the muscles in her neck shouted in protest at the simple movement. Carefully, giving him a smile, Meg helped him back onto the bed. Meg gently wrapped her hands, one under his knee and the other around his ankle, and helped lift his leg back onto the bed.

"Sorry" His apology was muttered lowly and disdainfully.

Meg's head snapped up to look at him, surprise etched on her face "What are you apologising for Monsieur?" Her voice came out in a low tone, similar to a tone her mother used to soothe her when she was younger.

He scowled at her "For the names I called you, they wer-"

"Monsieur, you were and still are in a great deal of pain" Meg sighed cutting him off

"It clearly upset you" He was irritated by her lack of interest, he was apologising. Something that he _never_ did.

"I have already put that incident to the back of my mind Monsieur" Meg smiled at him "You should forget about it, you must focus on recovering"

"Call me..." He trailed off and sighed "Mon nom est Erik"

Meg smiled at him, was this him accepting her help and her presence? "Monsieur" Meg saw him roll his eyes with a sigh "Erik, is there anything else you need me to do?"

"Well you could rescue the fire" He said eyeing the pitiful flames "After all you had a lot of trouble lighting it with that candle"

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><p><strong>I apologise if I used any French terms wrong or mean something other that what I think as I said I am using a translator.<strong>

**French**_ - English_

**Mon Aide**_ - My help_

**Maman**_ - Mother_

**Merde**

**Mon nom est **_- My name is_


	5. Chapter 5

**I Wish I could say this has taken so long to post because it's been with my new Beta, Hawkslayer, but I would be lying she hasn't seen it. This may be my last post for while. _Again_. Sorry.**

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><p>Meg sat quietly staring into space, it would be dark out by now. <em>Wouldn't it? <em>She looked up at Erik, would he know? Despite her curiousness Meg stayed silent. She was surprised a how quiet it was, she expected him to be rather vocal in his own home. He was after all Le Fantôme de l'Opéra. She had always known, because of her Maman, the infamous Fantôme was just human. Therefore she always had imagined him as a loud person whenever he could be.

She ran her hands through her hair before standing up, she silently noted the movement caught Erik's eye and that his gaze seemed to linger. She walked to the 'door' of his room and leaned against it at an angle so she could watch the water move.

"Monsieur" Meg spoke quietly "Is there anything you want from the other room? Anything you don't mind me fetching you of course."

Erik sighed, he had told her several times in the past few hours to use his name, obviously without any success. "Non Mademoiselle, I doubt you could carry the Organ"

"Monsieur, please call me Meg I do much prefer it to Mademoiselle"

"Of course" Erik smirked, pausing for a second "Once you start calling me Erik, that is"

Meg smiled softly turning her head to look at him "Ahh but Monsieur if I did that I would be ignoring what Maman told me"

"And what would that be?" He replied

"Monsieur, Maman has made me promise her many things over the years and this was the most important to her" Meg turned her head so she could watch the water again "That I do not get to know you, that if I ever come into contact with you to be polite but distant"

Erik stared at her back "You do not seem to be keeping that promise very well."

"Excuse me?" Meg asked a scathing tone graced her voice and whirled around to glare at him.

He chuckled "That wasn't a very polite tone, Mademoiselle, neither is that look"

She turned her back once again _'Merde, he tricked me'_ Meg slowly slid down the edge of the entrance, her feet were protesting loudly at being forced to work for so long without rest, her arms wrapped around her waist. Her dress' corset was starting to feel even tighter than it already was. Instinctively, Meg wanted to take quicker, deeper breaths, knowing better, Meg ignored that instinct and slowed her breathing and slightly stretched her upper body. She felt mildly better, but it wasn't enough so she forced herself back onto her aching feet. She suddenly yawned, Meg rubbed her eyes, she was surprised by how quickly tiredness crept up on her.

"Are you hungry Monsieur?" Meg asked, trying to distract herself, as she padded over to the wicker basket in the corner, to search for a roll of bread.

Erik sighed "I can wait til morning to eat. You should find a place to sleep"

Meg frowned but continued her search for the bread, she let out an irriatated puff of air as her arm slowly started to disappear in the basket. Suddenly she felt the crispy shell of the bread and she pulled it out. Meg ripped the loaf in half as she stood up, her feet groaned in protest as she walked over to Erik to give him half.

"You have lost an alarming amount of weight since your disappearance, you should trying to regain it. Not ignoring your hunger" Meg looked at the mask he wore disdainfully while speaking.

Erik had noticed this, it made his temper flare, he forced a kind note in his voice as he replied "Little Giry, I would advise you to keep your hands to yourself, you do not want to suffer the consequences of seeing my face unmasked"

Meg turned pink before stuttering slightly "I have no intentions of removing your mask" She saw his eyebrow raise "That does not mean I am not curious to see why you feel the need to hide half of your face"

He smirked and tauntingly asked "Your Maman never told you the reason for the mask did she?"

"Of course not. I have asked her though, she told me it was best I did not know because not many people survive when they know"

Erik sat in silence his brow furrowed, was the only person he ever considered being friends with scared of him? That was something he would have to rectify. He would have to go up and -

"Monsieur?" Meg broke through his mental planning "Are you alright?"

"Oui" His reply was short, irritated.

Meg frowned slightly before turning to leave the room "Bonne Nuit" Meg called out as she walked down the steps and onto the lakes edge. She sighed as she started to hunt for a flat area to sleep.

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><p><strong>Review <em>Please<em>**

**Translations**

**Bonne Nuit - **Good Night

**Maman - **other

**Monsieur - **Sir

**Oui -** Yes


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, I've been struggling to write this ONE chapter for almost SIX months... Sorry about that.**

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><p>For the second time that day, Meg had waded through the cold, murky waters of the lake. Her arms full of food, clothes and medical supplies. It had been with great difficulty that she had pulled the lever to enter his home, her Maman had been reluctant to allow her to return but had agreed with the condition of regular visits, most likely to ensure she was not at any point hurt by Erik. Of course the concern was only natural for her Maman to feel, and it made Meg smile. It was nice to know that her Maman loved her enough to let her use her own judgement.<p>

Luckily she had found her way here easier than the original trip down to his subterranean home. She had still gotten lost in the twisting tunnels, with their deadly traps, but it had definitely taken less time to find the lake. Though this trip had been much more eventful, seeing as she hadn't set off any traps last time.

She had, unfortunately, set off two of Le Fantômes lethal traps. She barely escaped a trap that probably would have taken off her foot, there were painful scratches up the back of her right shin and heel. The other trap had tried to behead her, Meg considered it good luck that she had had to bend down to unsnag her dress from where it had been caught on a rock.

Unfortunately for Erik her mother had sent her dreadful chicken soup, it was wonderful for healing small ailments such as a cold, but it tastes positively foul. Her mother had forced the covered bowl into her hands, insisting that she fed it to him to make sure he hadn't caught anything, that would aggravate him further. She could tell him that it made him one of a select few, her Maman truly only made it for the ones she truly cared about.

Sloshing onto the shore, Meg heaved the heavy basket off her shoulder, panting slightly from the exertion of her day. Slowly, she padded up the stairs into Erik's sleeping chamber her shoes giving off an absurd slurping noise with every step, causing Meg make a mental note to put them near the fire. She smiled at Erik in greeting as she lowered the basket to the floor, stretching out the stiff muscles in her neck, she turned to the basket. Flipping the lid, Meg reached inside and pulled out the matches, rising slowly and carefully out of her crouch she made her way over to the empty fire pit. Placing the matches down next to the pit, Meg set about preparing the fire pit for its next use, halfway through her task she heard him address her.

"I'm surprised your Maman let you return. Especially since you seem to have hurt your leg."

Meg smirked "Maman did not want me to return, but once I explained you were bed ridden she was much easier to convince." She decided to ignores his remark about her leg, a small amount of disinfectant and a light bandage to cover it until it healed would work perfectly fine.

"Which trap did you set off?" Meg could hear his smirk in his voice, after all he had offered to give her directions so she could avoid said traps.

"An ankle biter, or foot remover. Whichever you would prefer to call it" Meg kept her tone neutral as she continued "Oh! And there was the axe that swung from the ceiling"

"I warned you" Erik stated.

"Oui, I know" Meg waved her hand at him "I'll listen next time, Maman made me promise to go up regularly."

Pushing herself to her feet, she retrieved the soup from the wicker basket, not noticing his watchful gaze narrow onto the soup in mild horror he asked "Is that your Maman's chicken soup?"

Meg smirked.


End file.
